Brothers and Hwoers
by Cyri's Alter Ego
Summary: Conor ponders Sapphy's newly aquired Mer speech. Oneshot, set in the first book. The author wishes that there was a 'thinking' genre, and notices that the 'Conor' in the character list is spelled wrong.


**OMG. There are so many active writers here. _Not_. I'm only messing, guys, okay. Small communities are awesome. And I'm about to become one of that tiny _Ingo_ community, if only for a spur-of-the-moment oneshot ^_^**

**Well, I've started to read the _Ingo_ series. I got _The Deep_ for Christmas, so read that one first, not realising it was the third in the series -_-' I've just finished _Ingo _now, and I get the gist of what happens in _The Tide Knot_ 'cause of the general hints in _The Deep. _Not a clue about _The Crossing of Ingo, _mind you, so excuse any mistakes. But there shouldn't be, 'cause this oneshot takes place in the middle of _Ingo_, where Sapphy starts spewing Mer. Plus, I don't know whether Sapphire and Conor have a stream outside their house. If they don't... well, too bad, to be honest.**

**I've decided that Conor is awesome. There is a lack of Conor fics (there are a sad lack of _Ingo_ fics in general). I pouted in an annoyed way. I wanted Conor fics. I wrote an extremely long author's note. And I wrote this. =points down=**

**DISCLAIMER: If you think that I own _Ingo_, then- _Faro_: You Air people can never own Ingo! You- =goes off into rant=**

Brothers and Hwoers

_How could I ever be a stranger to you, Conor? We're broder and hwoer._

The silty bed of the stream slips through my fingertips as I slide my hand through it.

A stream. Earth water.

I lift my hand from the stream and lick the tip of my forefinger. For a second, I fear that it will taste of salt - but then the sweet taste of Earth water touches my tongue.

I sigh, and gaze back at our house. I think that Sapphy's talking to Mum. I hope she doesn't give anything away... I shake my head quickly. Sapphire isn't stupid. She won't talk to Mum about something like this. Something like Ingo.

When Mum goes to work, we'll see Granny Carne.

Even as I think her name, I am slightly soothed. Granny Carne has a strange Earth power about her that I love - but she seems to know all about the sea, too. She seems to know all about _everything_. Surely she'll be able to talk to us about Sapphy's...?

No. The way I think it makes it sound like my sister's got a disease, an illness. She hasn't. She's my _sister. _She doesn't need - or want - be be _diagnosed_. Least of all by Granny Carne. Actually, I think that Sapphire's a little scared of her. This puzzles me. No one could possibly be afraid of Granny Carne.

But besides... _Hello, Granny Carne. I'm afraid that Saph's started speaking Mer language at random intervals, and she doesn't know how she does it. Any tips? _It would sound stupid. Humourous, even.

But Granny Carne wouldn't think so. Somehow, I know that she wouldn't be the sort of person to laugh.

I still don't want to ask. Because I'm _afraid_. Not of Granny Carne - I'm not Sapphy. I'm afraid of what my sister's doing. I'm scared of _her_. I don't want to admit it, and I never would out loud, but I am.

I absentmindedly dab my hand in the stream again, still crouched as I stare across at the sea. The waves lap on the shore with a _hushhhhhh_ sound.

_Moryow are the seas of the world._

I shudder and turn away. To me, it seems that Sapphire's becoming less my sister every passing day. She's becoming a _part_ of Ingo. Sometimes I can see a strange expression on her face... It makes her look fierce and wild. Less like a human, and more... _Mer_.

_Broder and hwoer._

But I'm still Conor. I get good marks in school, I can normally hold onto my temper, and the only thing that makes me stand out is the fact that my father's gone missing. I'm not a crazy Ingo-frolicking, thought-sharing, almost half-Merrish creature.

_She's more like Faro's little sister than mine,_ I think bitterly. Somehow, I feel protective over Sapphy. I don't _like _the fact that Faro is enchanting her away to a weird underwater world where she thinks that she can talk to fish.

This new... _language_... is confirming my fears. It feels way too much like when Dad disappeared. Sapphire was too young to remember, but I can feel it... I don't want to lose her, but I'm terrified for her sake, too.

Or am I? Am I simply jealous of the attention that Sapphy's giving Ingo, and Faro? She's my eleven year old sister - she's always needed me. Now, she suddenly doesn't. _It doesn't make a nice change, to be perfectly honest... I'm not only relying on Elvira, I'm relying on my own little sister._

_I wish I was away in Ingo,  
Far across the briny sea..._

Sapphire _is_ away in Ingo, just about. When she's not there physically, she's thinking about it. Daydreaming about it. And I'm always frightened that the sea will call to her, and she'll just... _go_.

I can't cope with just me and Mum. Despite Roger, I don't think that she'd take it very well, either.

"Ouch!" I withdraw my hand sharply from the water and peer into the rippling surface. A small freshwater crab appears to have nipped my finger - I obviously disturbed its home. "Sorry," I whisper, and hold my finger up to examine the damage. A shallow scrape stretches across the flesh. It doesn't particularly hurt any more, but it's bleeding, so, not thinking, I instinctively suck my finger to draw away the blood.

The salty tang of my blood mingles with the sweet-tasting Earth water from the stream. Salty and sweet.

I let my hand fall from my mouth, and my scratch stings slightly as the air rushes past the broken skin. It's as though someone, or something, is trying to tell me something.

_Broder. Brother. Hwoer. Sister._

And it comes to me.

Sapphy's still my sister. And I'm still her brother. But Faro's her broder, and she's his little hwoer.

I can never be Sapphire's broder, no matter what she says about us being broder and hwoer.

As long as I feel more at home in the Air, I will stay a brother, and not a broder.


End file.
